Not The Same Anymore

For years now, I as a football card collector was very happy with the variety I was given on the market. It was much different than the other sports after Panini stuck their foot in the sport card market. I could buy some unlicensed with SA-GE or Leaf. I could even dip into some NCAA with Upper Deck and their incredible product lineup. I was even offered some NFL from Topps and from Panini. Football collecting was good.

Then hit 2016, the year that has changed it all.

Now my offering is simple, it's Panini or nothing. Yes, I could always dip into the unlicensed stuff, but that was usually stuff I bought to fill the time for other releases. Now some of my favorite products I won't see on the market in 2016. No more Spx. No more Topps flagship. No more Upper Deck. No more Sp Authentic. No more Topps Chrome. No more Topps Platinum. No more Finest.No more, no more, no more.

RIP Topps Finest, you will be missed

It's not that I have anything at all against Panini as I enjoy a lot of their products, but once in awhile, I liked having my options. If I felt like busting a pack of Topps Chrome over a pack of Score I could. If a box of Spx was tempting, I could go get it. Now, it's a lineup of Panini NFL and NCAA products to choose from. To make it a bit tougher to swallow, Most NCAA products so far are matching the same products I could buy NFL-wise later on in the year. That makes the variety list even smaller.

Why two Contenders brands??? Why?!?!?!?

I now feel you baseball, basketball and hockey card fans who are scratching at the walls for variety and options. I never thought the football card market would be this way, but reality has now settled in.

I have always hated exclusive licenses, but now that my football card market is apart of the mess, words cannot express how I feel about them. I just hope someday when these licenses are up for grabs again that other companies will be able to take their piece of the market back again. This goes for all sports.

Will the change in 2016 change the way I collect football cards? Probably not. I collect football cards, I collect NFL ones. If this is all I am offered, I guess I have to take it.

So how do the rest of you football card collectors feel? Happy with the Panini only options? Miss other companies being apart of the football card market? Which products will you miss in 2016? (other collectors from other sports can join in too of course for their respected sport)